My day started out the old-fashioned way with my host dad (Lutz) knocking on my bedroom door at 6:00am to make sure I was awake (little did he know I had set 3 different alarms...all set to begin around 6:05). Anyway, I got ready with plenty of time to spare and headed downstairs to grab something to eat. SURPRISE - Lutz had set out breakfast for me - complete with butter already spread on my toast!! How cute it that?! And he had prepared some cut-up vegetables for me to take as a midday snack along with an apple and bottle of water. I just thought that was great :)
I biked to the train station and joined the morning crowd on the S-Bahn (train) and then the Underground (subway) before walking a few blocks to GLS Sprachschule (my language school). I was there by 7:45am and was immediately instructed to take a placement test. I thought I did alright, and then it was time to wait for my "interview" (to make sure I can actually speak some German). I sat among other students who were all speaking languages I didn't recognize. Then I heard it! English! "Excuse me, are you American?" And that's how I made my first friend in Berlin. His name is Guy, and he is from London. We exchanged numbers and had lunch together yesterday. Wonderful - I'm meeting people outside my host family now!
German class was hard, but I'm happy to take on the challenge. I was placed in level A2 (it starts with A0 which are the absolute beginners and continues to C2 which is fluency...So A0, A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2). The classes are all instructed only in German. I have two different teachers who each teach my class for an hour and a half everyday. I love it. I'm really learning a lot, and my host family is helping me with my homework :)
Yesterday I also became a member at a local gym! The gym is about a 10 minute walk from my school, and it just opened on Thursday. It's honestly the nicest gym I've ever seen. I had a great workout. Tomorrow I'm meeting Anne there after school.
Hmm, what else? Ah yes - last night there was a meet-and-greet event for all students at my school. I made more friends! I met people from Switzerland, Sweden, England, the US, Netherlands, Brazil, China, and Korea. I'm loving it. Now I have people to text and meet for lunch ;)
Thank you for reading and leaving comments! I will do my best to respond to comments directly on the comment threads for each blog post. Gute Nacht!
(cute picture thing Mikaela made for me!)
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It has been a hectic week here, so I finally sat down and read your blog post from the last week. I am so happy you have been placed with such a lovely family. This will be such a great experience for you, and your German skills are going to soar. I have never been to Germany - made it to Austria, but not Germany. I loved riding the trains in Europe! I am glad you are so tech savvy and can post photos regularly. Keep writing! Drink in the entire adventure!! I am glad you have found a nice gym - not find a dance studio! I expect a report back on the dance scene there before the year is out!
ReplyDeleteHi Michele - it's great to hear from you! I definitely want to check out the dance scene in Berlin while I am here. It would be interesting to take a dance class in German. Today I took a cyber aerobics class at my gym, and it was a great way to learn some new words :) I will continue to write on here. I don't use elaborate vocabulary by any means, but it is a great way to document my adventure. Thanks for reading!
ReplyDeleteÅh, the joy of meeting people you can understand. Be happy you didn't jumped out of a car and hugged him ;)
ReplyDeleteI am so happy you are making friends! I can "hear" your voice when I read your blog and it makes me very happy.
ReplyDeleteYou're awesome. Everyone should take an experience like this in their life. Love you.
Ash